Australia still open to joining China-led Bank: Abbott
October 31, 2014, 6:47 am

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2014 [Xinhua]

Abbott said his government will continue discussions with the Chinese government about taking part in the bank despite it not signing a memorandum of understanding with China last week.

“We would like to join but it’s got to be a multilateral jurisdiction with the kind of transparency and the kind of governance arrangements that, for argument’s sake, the World Bank has,” Abbott told Australian Associated Press.

Australia is struggling to maintain balance between traditional security ties with the US and growing economic and trade ties with China.

In a landmark achievement, 21 Asian nations including China and India signed on a new infrastructure investment bank which would rival the World Bank last week in Beijing.

Abbott’s comments followed harsh criticism from former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating on the government’s decision not to become a founding member of the AIIB with 21 other Asian nations.

“The government’s decision to decline founding membership of the Chinese-proposed Asian infrastructure bank is the worst policy decision the government has taken since assuming office,” Keating told the Australian Financial Review.

“It is the worst because of the far-reaching implications and consequences of deciding to have nothing geo-economically to do with China at a time when China is prepared to step up to greater responsibilities in the region.”

US allies Japan and Australia alongwith South Korea and Indonesia are notable absentees from the list of nations who signed up for the China-led Bank. The AIIB will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan.

China and other emerging economies, including BRICS, have long protested against their limited voice at other multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had last October proposed to establish the AIIB to boost Asian economic integration and infrastructure projects like roads, railways, ports across the region. The new Bank has a capital target of more than $100 billion.

TBP and Agencies